Comparison

nRF Connect for Mobile vs Blynk IoT

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

nRF Connect for Mobile

This app is a versatile tool for scanning, exploring, and communicating with Bluetooth Low Energy devices. It also enables your device to act as a peripheral and supports firmware updates for compatible devices.

Highlights
  • Scan and discover Bluetooth LE peripherals
  • Communicate with Bluetooth LE devices
  • Advertise as a Bluetooth LE peripheral
  • Update compatible device firmware (DFU)
  • Filter scanned peripherals
  • Live RSSI chart
  • Log BLE function calls
Read full description

nRF Connect is a powerful generic tool that allows you to scan and explore your Bluetooth Low Energy (henceforth Bluetooth LE, also called Bluetooth Version 4.0+ of the Bluetooth specification) devices and communicate with them. nRF Connect also allows your iOS device to advertise as a peripheral, with full support of many of Bluetooth SIG adopted profiles. Additionally, nRF Connect supports Nordic Semiconductor’s Device Firmware Update profile (DFU) capabilities, allowing you to update compatible peripherals! + Features: • Supports DFU on all Nordic Semiconducto-powered devices. • Supports Nordic Thingy™ from Nordic Semiconductor. • Scan and discover nearby Bluetooth LE peripherals. • Filter Scanned Peripherals by Name, Manufacturer, Services (Advertised & Connected) and RSSI Level. • Parsing Multiple Formats of Bluetooth LE Advertisement Data. • Live RSSI Chart of Scanned Bluetooth LE Peripherals. • Complete iPad Support, including Multi-Tasking and Mouse Support as of 13.4. • Logs: Including BLE Function calls, and Export Function as CSV and Text. • Privacy-Oriented: Full-Disclosure of Scanned Data, Advertised Data, and User-Performed Actions held by nRF Connect. • Connecting to Any Connectable Bluetooth LE Smart Device. • Discovery of Services, Characteristics and Descriptors. • Read and Write Characteristics and Descriptors. • Enable and Disable Notifications and Indications. • Advertising as a Bluetooth LE Peripheral. • Setting up a Bluetooth LE (Peripheral) Server and Notifying/Indicating back to connected Central(s). • Low-Fat: nRF Connect for iOS is Very Small, so You Can Always Keep Us With You! >= Requirements: • iOS 16.0 and above. - Notes: nRF Connect also works with our Development Kits, which you may acquire online here: https://www.nordicsemi.com/eng/buy-online

About

Blynk IoT

Build custom IoT apps without coding using a drag-and-drop interface. Manage devices, users, and data remotely with a powerful web console and scalable cloud infrastructure. Supports over 400 hardware boards and various connection options.

Highlights
  • Drag-n-drop IoT app builder
  • Device and user management
  • OTA firmware updates
  • Secure cloud infrastructure
  • Hardware compatibility (400+ boards)
  • Real-time alerts and automations
Read full description

Trusted by over 1 million IoT developers worldwide, Blynk lets you build and customize beautiful, feature-rich apps without writing a single line of code. Blynk solves IoT complexity at every stage with easy workflows for end-user device activation, WiFi provisioning, seamless OTA firmware updates, enterprise-grade security, and much more! ⊲ Not Just an App... Blynk is an award-winning low-code IoT platform that supports IoT at any scale—from personal prototypes to millions of connected devices in production environments. 2024 Leader: IoT Platforms (G2) 2024 High Performer: IoT Management (G2) 2024 Momentum Leader: IoT Development Tools (G2) Designed, developed, tested, and continuously maintained, Blynk provides the building blocks of a fully integrated cloud IoT platform software solution—loved by customers and their end-users around the world! ⊲ Here’s What You Get When You Sign Up: Blynk.Apps: Drag-n-drop IoT app builder to build and brand feature-rich mobile apps in minutes and instantly manage devices, users, and data remotely. Blynk.Console: A powerful web portal to manage devices, users, and organizations, perform OTA firmware updates, and handle other important business functions. Blynk.Cloud: Cloud infrastructure needed to securely host, scale, and monitor your IoT solutions. Receive, store, and process data in real-time or at intervals. Connect to your other systems via APIs. Private server options are available. ⊲ Secure, Scalable Enterprise-Grade Infrastructure Processing over 180 billion hardware messages monthly, Blynk provides secure, end-to-end encryption between the cloud, apps, and devices with 24/7 incident monitoring, ensuring you don’t have to worry about security. ⊲ Robust Hardware Compatibility Supporting over 400 hardware development boards—including ESP32, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Seeed, Particle, SparkFun, Blues, Adafruit, Texas Instruments, and more—Blynk makes it easy to connect your devices to the cloud using WiFi, Ethernet, Cellular (GSM, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE), LoRaWAN, HTTPs, or MQTT. ⊲ Flexible Connection Options Blynk Library: Pre-configured C++ library for low-latency, bi-directional communication. Blynk.Edgent: Advanced features with less code for data exchange, WiFi provisioning, OTA firmware updates, and API access to apps and cloud. Blynk.NCP: High-quality network co-processor integration for dual MCU architecture. HTTP(s) API: Standard protocol to securely communicate and transfer data. MQTT API: Secure, versatile two-way communication for building MQTT dashboards or panels. ⊲ What an IoT Developer Can Do with Blynk: • Easy Device Activation • Device WiFi Provisioning • Sensor Data Visualization • Shared Access to Devices • Data Analytics • Remote Device Control • Asset Tracking • Firmware Over-the-Air (OTA) Updates • Multi-Device Management with a Single App • Real-Time Alerts: Send and receive push and email notifications. • Automations: Create scenarios for one or multiple devices based on various triggers. • Manage Multi-Level Organizations and Access to Devices • Voice Assistant Integration: Interact with devices using Amazon Alexa and Google Home. To use the Blynk IoT app, you must agree to our Terms of Use - https://blynk.io/tos

Screenshots

nRF Connect for Mobile4 screens
Blynk IoT4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: nRF Connect for Mobile at none against Blynk IoT's 7. nRF Connect for Mobile also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 42%). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Blynk IoT sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. nRF Connect for Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for nRF Connect for Mobile against 4.5 for Blynk IoT. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 477 and 828 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of nRF Connect for Mobile's written reviews are positive against 42% of Blynk IoT's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, Blynk IoT monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
nRF Connect for Mobile versus Blynk IoT: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameternRF Connect for MobileBlynk IoT
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (477 ratings)4.5 (828 ratings) — better
Positive reviews70.7% of reviews — better42.0% of reviews
Number of ratings477828 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB86 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNordic Semiconductor ASABlynk Technologies

Customer experience

nRF Connect for Mobile

All ratings466 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral6.7%
Negative8.2%
Written reviews239 reviews
Positive70.7%
Neutral8.4%
Negative20.9%

Blynk IoT

All ratings823 ratings
Positive88.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews174 reviews
Positive42.0%
Neutral5.7%
Negative52.3%

User reviews

nRF Connect for Mobile

From 477 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great product
  • 🚀 Very handy
  • 🚀 Amazing functionality
  • 🚀 Love the technology
  • 🚀 Versatile program

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Doesn't seem to work on iOS 17
  • 🐛 Can't really disconnect from peripherals
  • 🐛 New update freezes on launch screen DON'T UPDATE!
  • 🐛 Legacy DFU not working
  • 🐛 Hitting terrible bug

Blynk IoT

From 828 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Powerful IoT platform
  • 🚀 Efficient for rapid prototyping
  • 👍 Great for hobbyists and businesses
  • 👍 Stable and reliable

Room to improve

  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐛 Unstable, crashes frequently
  • 🤔 Confusing for beginners
  • 🤔 Lacks flexibility compared to legacy version
  • 🤔 Limited free features

Bugs and requests

nRF Connect for Mobile

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Can't read data from Bluetooth device
  • Tries to ask for Bluetooth connection when Bluetooth is off. Asks to connect to devices when Bluetooth is off. Who knows what this app is doing in the background without permission?! What ever it is , it ain't good
  • Tapping "tabs" doesn't work (nothing changes in the UI). To get some response from tapping UI controls typically requires (a) launching nRF Connect, (b) switching to another app, (c) switching back to nRF Connect. I've tried uninstalling and re-downloading. Same result. This used to be the bee's knees of BLE tools but it's only worth 1 star at the moment (v2.7.11).
  • Cant go past the initial announcement. The app is unresponsive to the taps.

Requested features

4 requests
  • Where's the mac addresses
  • Max rssi limit
  • Log view
  • We need macros in iOS version

Blynk IoT

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Connectivity issues with devices
  • Widgets not working as expected
  • Account deletion without warning
  • Incompatibility with older hardware

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Bluetooth support
  • Better documentation and tutorials
  • Restore legacy app functionality
  • Affordable pricing for hobbyists

In-app purchases

None

nRF Connect for Mobile

No in-app purchases

7 purchases

Blynk IoT

Subscriptions7
  • Blynk MAKER - Monthly$6.991 Month
  • Blynk Starter - Monthly$29.001 Month
  • Blynk PRO (40 users) Monthly$48.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Blynk MAKER - Yearly$59.991 Year
  • Blynk PRO (100 users) Monthly$98.991 Month
  • Blynk PRO (50 users) Monthly$99.001 Month
  • Blynk PRO (500 users) Monthly$299.991 Month

Questions

Is nRF Connect for Mobile free?
nRF Connect for Mobile is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Blynk IoT free?
Blynk IoT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, nRF Connect for Mobile or Blynk IoT?
Blynk IoT is rated higher. nRF Connect for Mobile averages 4.5 out of 5 from 477 ratings, while Blynk IoT averages 4.5 from 828 ratings.
Do nRF Connect for Mobile or Blynk IoT have ads?
Neither nRF Connect for Mobile nor Blynk IoT shows ads.
Which is updated more often, nRF Connect for Mobile or Blynk IoT?
nRF Connect for Mobile ships an update every 5 weeks, and Blynk IoT monthly. Most recently, nRF Connect for Mobile was updated on October 29, 2026 and Blynk IoT on October 30, 2026.

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